


What's The Big Secret?

by Scion13



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Background - Freeform, Head Cannon, Katherine and Race talk, Katherine finds out why Jack doesn't want to talk about the refuge, Not Fluff, Not canon background, Secrets, but also not super sad, emotionally hurt Jack, not really slash, slash is there just not explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 07:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18311084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scion13/pseuds/Scion13
Summary: Katherine has a conversation with Race about why Jack won't talk about his time in the refuge. Sometimes what hurts us the most isn't the scars but the regrets.





	What's The Big Secret?

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: If I owned Newsies IT WOULD STILL BE ON NETFLIX! But I digress. This is not an accurate canon background, I know. One day I might finally finish my longer piece that goes into detail on what happened in my version of events ... ya, we'll see. I guess it depends on if you guys want to hear about it. So, as always please let me know if I did anything incorrectly or if you have suggestions to improve. Give me comments! I love hearing from you all! Criticism and praise both accepted with equal gratitude. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy!

“No, Kat, just forget it!” Jack waved her off but she persisted, notepad in hand. 

“But, Jack, the people have a right to know what went on in there. What you went through--”

Jack spun on her, “I SAID NO, A’RIGHT?!” Katherine took a physical step back but Jack stepped toward her, sticking his finger in her face, “Get it through that thick skull of yours, Ms. Politzer! Just leave me alone.”

“Jack, I--” Jack spit on the ground and stormed out of the square leaving Kat standing in shock. Someone whistled and Kat turned to see Racetrack sitting on a nearby windowsill, twirling a cigar with a smug smile.

“What?” Kat demanded, cheeks red, but Race held up his hands in surrender.

“Nothin’! Just, not everyone can rile up Cowboy like that.” Race chuckled but Kat gave a frustrated huff.

“He’s impossible! The stories you boys have could open people’s eyes to how bad conditions really are. It could stop the same thing from happening in other cities.”

“Ya well, good luck with that.” Race jumped down, sticking the cigar back in his mouth as he started walking back to the boarding house.

“Hey!” Kathleen grabbed his arm, so Race spun to face her with an exasperated look.

“What, girlie? I’m walkin’ here.”

“Could you get Jack to talk to me?”

Race popped the cigar back out of his mouth and raising his eyebrows with a smirk, “Well aren't we the little weasel today? Trying to get me to do your dirty work for you. Use my close personal relationship to get your precious story.”

“No, I--”

“You know,” Race took a step towards her, using his cigar to emphasize his point, “Jack ain’t the only one with some tales from the Refuge. I could, uh, help you out.” Race smiled smugly but Kathrine just rolled her eyes, used to the boy’s antics at this point. 

“Thanks, but no thanks. Jack is the face of this revolution, people know him. His story is going to be the one to get their attention.”

Race deflated then shrugged, “Well, it’s your loss, sweetheart.” He started sauntering away but Kathrine caught up to him again, “Geeze, can’t you take a hint? I’s got places to be!”

“Would some of the other boys be willing to share their stories?”

Race gave her a look, “Uh, ya, probably. Why don’t you ask ‘em yerself, ‘stead of pestering me?”

Race tried to walk faster but Kat managed to keep up, “Then why won’t Jack talk about it?”

Kat watched the boy’s face carefully as it went from sarcastic to dark and stoney, “None of us talk about when Jack was taken.”

That nearly stopped Katherine in her tracks, “But. . . but why? What happened?”

Race just scoffed, “Didn’t you hear Jack? He don’t want to talk about it.”

“What about you?”

“Me?”

“Would you be willing to talk about it?”

Race stopped in the middle of the street, nearly getting himself run over by a carriage before Kat pulled him to to the sidewalk, “You know, you’ve got some nerve, Miss. Kath-er-ine. It ain’t my story to tell.”

Kat smiled, “Oh, but any good journalist knows that there’s more than one side to every story. So technically if you told me your side. . .”

Race smiled too, “Ha! I like you, ya know that? You’s goin’ keep Kelly on his toes fer sure!”

“So you’ll tell me?”

Race’s face went stony again, “No.” He walked away and Katherine jogged back up to him.

“But why not? What’s the big secret? What possibly could have happened that none of you will talk about it?”

“Talk about what?” A chipper voice made both of them turn to face a bright-eyed blonde boy leaning on a crutch. Race’s whole demeanor changed to one of mock annoyance.

“Our little sleuth here is trying to wheedle out Jack’s deep dark secrets from me.”

“And what, Race, you sellin’ them for a cigar a tale?” Crutchie laughed catching up with them so they could all walk back to the lodging-house together.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Race exclaimed in mock offense. Both Crutchie and Kathrine shared a disbelieving smile, but Race waved them off, “I’d sell em for a pack a tale. Long as they’s coronas.”

They all laughed at that, arriving at the lodging house. 

“Oh, hey!” Crutchie suddenly looked at Kathrine, “Mush painted Jack’s nails once when he was so drunk that he passed out for a good twelve hours straight.”

“NO! Where did Mush even get nail polish? What color?”

“Aw, ya know, he found some purple stuff behind Jacobi’s. It looked great on him.”

They all laughed, then Crutchie spotted some hunched over figure sulking in the doorway,

“Jack!”

The dark newsie stood up, smiling at his best friend, “Hey ya, Crutch!”

Crutchie went hobbling over as fast as he could, “Jack, you’ll never believe...”

Race moved to follow, still chuckling, when Kathrine caught him again, “It has something to do with Crutchie doesn’t it?” Her whispered question still maintained a fake smile while Race’s face turned pale. The boy stood stone still under her grip, obviously shocked, and she put a hand on his shoulder, “What happened, Race?”

Racetrack still didn’t move, they stood watching as Jack and Crutchie laughed and joked. Eventually, Jack heaved the smaller boy over his shoulders, and a round of screams echoed across the street. The boy next to Kat took his cigar out of his mouth with a very long, deep sigh. 

“The last time Jack went to the refuge was when Crutchie got sick. None of us knew what’s to do, and. . . By the time he busted out,” Race looked down at his cigar with a sigh, “Crutch-- he got better but nothing could be done for his leg. Jack won’t forgive himself, and swore he’d never leave Crutchie alone like that again.” Race stood there, staring at his hands as Katherine covered her mouth, looking over again at the happy pair walking into the lodging house.

“I- I had no idea,” She whispered and Racetrack nodded, sticking the cigar back into his mouth. They stood in silence for another minute, “Is that why he- That’s why Jack was so upset? During the strike when. . .”

“When they took Crutchie,” Race finished. “Ya. Well, now you know.” Race walked away and Katherine stood there watching the house filled with noise and light even as the world around it dimmed.

**Author's Note:**

> What?! Two Newsies posts in two days??? Am I procrastinating some big project that is definitely due tomorrow? Maybe? I won't say anything if you don't? Great. Ya, I just have a bunch of fics already written and I realized that I should just get over myself and post them, cause why not? Hope you liked it, not as depressing as my first, not as fluffy as my second. I had lots of fun trying to be accurate to Race... not sure if I got it perfect but let me know. Thanks for reading!


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